SN
FORUM
Issue 6, June 2012
www.milkit.ie
Sports
Nutrition
Forum
A Newsletter for Sports and Fitness Professionals
Basketball coaches
gather for expert
nutrition advice
In this issue
Issue 1 March 2011
EXPERT NUTRITION ADVICE FOR
BASKETBALL COACHES
The NDC teamed up with Basketball
Ireland to hold nutrition seminars in
Co. Dublin and Co. Donegal.
1
AND NUTRITION
3performance
Ruth Wood-Martin, IRFU Performance
4
Nutritionist, provides nutritional advice
for injured athletes.
SPORTS STAR SPOTLIGHT: DEIRDRE
RYAN AND NEIL CAMPBELL
Olympic hopeful, Deirdre Ryan, and
basketball player, Neil Campbell, discuss
diet and training schedules.
5
SPORTS NUTRITION CASE STUDY
Dietary advice for a basketball player
required to gain weight, by Dr Tom Hill.
6
Sport and Dairy
Milk and sport: potential benefits for
performance and recovery.
Editorial
The National Dairy Council (NDC), in
conjunction with Basketball Ireland, recently
held two successful nutrition seminars for
basketball coaches. The seminar in Donegal
was held in Loreto College, Letterkenny
(March 10th, 2012), while the seminar in
Dublin took place at the National Basketball
Arena, Tallaght (February 18th, 2012).
Lorna Morrisson – nutrition
expert at Donegal seminar
“Success for athletes involves staying sharp,
both mentally and physically,” according to
Lorna Morrison, Performance Nutritionist,
who spoke at the Donegal nutrition seminar
for basketball coaches. Lorna Morrison is
an independent Performance Nutritionist,
CAMPAIGN FINANCED WITH AID FROM
THE EUROPEAN UNION, THE NATIONAL
DAIRY COUNCIL AND THE DEPARTMENT
OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD and the marine
In this sixth issue of SN Forum, we
report on the two nutrition seminars
for basketball coaches, held as part of
the ‘Milk It For All It’s Worth’ campaign.
Our regular contributor, Ruth WoodMartin, focuses on nutrition for injured
athletes, while Dr Tom Hill devises
a diet plan for a basketball player
required to gain weight. Olympic
hopeful, Deirdre Ryan, and basketball
player, Neil Campbell, feature in our
‘Sports Star Spotlight’, and we take a
look at research highlighting the role
of milk for performance and recovery.
Log on to www.milkit.ie for nutrition
information and a chance of winning
great prizes by entering the website’s
online competitions. As always, feel
free to share suggestions: [email protected]
Dr Catherine Logan
Nutrition Manager, National Dairy Council
currently working at the Sports Institute
Northern Ireland (SINI), where she delivers
and develops nutrition services for elite
athletes, within both team and individual
sport environments, in order to support
their training. “Basketball is a highly demanding sport
that requires continuous bursts of energy.
Fatigue can lead to poor performance for
athletes and can make the athlete more
vulnerable to injury,” said Ms Morrison, who
identified ‘fuelling’, ‘hydration’ and ‘recovery’
as key components for an athlete’s dietary
planning.
Ms Morrison said that using the correct
nutritional approaches to support sufficient
fuelling and hydration can contribute to
performance and co-ordination, a reduction
in injury risk and may delay the onset of
fatigue. “Weight loss experienced by a
player during a training session or game
is mainly due to the loss of fluid through
sweat. Dehydration can result from this and
can affect the way that players perform,
with a 5% drop in performance for every 1%
drop in body weight. Fluid deficit incurred
during one session may also compromise
the next training session if adequate fluid
replacement does not occur.”
Coaches were advised to encourage their
players to plan what fluids and foods will
help them during training and matches; as
well as the ‘recovery’ period, which takes
into account issues such as carbohydrate
replenishment and restoration of water and
salt balances. She highlighted the need for
a healthy, balanced diet in accordance with
food pyramid guidelines, and demonstrated
the nutrient benefits offered from each
‘shelf’ of the food pyramid. The basketball coaches were also informed
of the growing body of scientific research
showing that milk can play a very positive
role in a number of aspects of sports
nutrition. Specific areas of focus include
the effectiveness of skimmed milk as a rehydration drink after sports, in addition to
research highlighting the beneficial role of
milk and milk-based products in recovery
from exercise-induced muscle damage. The
beneficial role of milk in these areas has
been attributed to the natural nutritional
Dr Tom Hill, Senior Lecturer in Food & Nutrition, University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK; Caroline O’Donovan, Nutritionist, The National
Dairy Council; and Martin McGettrick, Basketball Ireland Coach Committee.
composition of milk, which includes
electrolytes, carbohydrate and protein,
amongst other nutrients. The NDC surveyed the coaches who
attended the Donegal seminar and found
some interesting results. For example, on
arrival, 52% of coaches said they would
recommend drinking low-fat milk after
exercise; but after the presentation, this
jumped to 95%.
Dr Tom Hill – nutrition expert at
Dublin seminar
Dr Tom Hill, Senior Lecturer in Nutrition,
Newcastle University, led an interactive
discussion at the Dublin seminar. Dr Hill has
extensive experience of working on diet and
nutrition issues with players, athletes and
teams across a variety of sports, ranging
from soccer to rowing.
According to Dr Hill, basketball coaches
should be encouraged to initiate basic
nutrition strategies with their squads.
“Proper sports nutrition will help athletes
to train and compete harder and to recover
more quickly, so that they are better able
to take on their next training session or
competition. The few hours before, during
and after exercise are critical times for
ensuring players eat and drink properly,
and coaches can play a role in giving
Lorna Morrison,
independent
Performance
Nutritionist, currently
working at the Sports
Institute Northern
Ireland (SINI); Caroline
O’Donovan, Nutritionist,
The National Dairy
Council; and Martin
McGettrick, Basketball
Ireland Coach
Committee.
2
Issue 6, June 2012
encouragement to players around this.”
During the workshop Dr Hill explained that
basketball players have considerably high
energy requirements owing to the high
intensity nature of the game. For athletes,
adequate carbohydrate intake is vital for
the working muscles. Limited amounts of
carbohydrate can be stored in the muscle and
liver – these stores are known as glycogen
– and, therefore, the intake of carbohydrate
rich foods are critical to ensuring muscle
and liver glycogen stores are adequately
stocked.
Players also need to pay attention to their
intake of protein, which is important for
muscle recovery, repair and development.
Dietary fats are important as a source of
essential fatty acids, which have a range
of important functions in the body, as are
vitamins and minerals which also have vital
roles including releasing energy from food.
After exercise, the aim is to consume
‘recovery food’ which is carbohydrate-based
– and ideally should contain some protein
also. It is not always possible to eat a meal
straight after a game or training, so some
useful post-exercise recovery snacks include
milkshakes, flavoured milk or a small chicken
salad sandwich.
Dr Hill also highlighted that milk has many
natural nutrients and naturally occurring
electrolytes, which are important in
sports nutrition. Research supports the
effectiveness of milk and milk-based foods
in several areas of sports nutrition – so
not only are you addressing your sports
nutrition needs, you are also consuming
a food that provides a source of nutrients,
such as calcium.
On arrival, 26% of coaches attending this
seminar said they would recommend drinking
low-fat milk after exercise; yet after the
presentation, this reached an impressive 95%.
Turn to page 5 to read Dr Hill’s nutrition advice for
a 17-year-old basketball player who is required
to gain weight.
Performance
and Nutrition:
Ruth Wood-Martin MSc RD SEN is a Registered Dietitian and Sport and Exercise
Nutritionist and currently works as the Performance Nutritionist with the Irish
Rugby Football Union.
Injury – can you eat your way to recovery?
One aspect of recovery that is often
overlooked when an athlete is injured is
nutrition. Sports injuries that result in
limb immobilisation, and reduced or no
training, will lead to loss of muscle mass
and muscle function. The right nutrition
throughout the immobilisation and
rehabilitation phases of injury is vital to
support optimal healing and recovery.
Inflammation
Straight after a severe injury, the body
starts an inflammatory response, which
is necessary for proper healing. Often,
anti-inflammatory medications are not
prescribed at this time to allow nature to
take its course. However, after a couple of
days (the length of time depends on the
injury), avoiding excessive inflammation is a
wise course of action. From a nutrition point
of view, this may mean decreasing omega-6
fats (which may promote inflammation)
and increasing intake of omega-3 fats
(which have anti-inflammatory properties).
In practice, this means decreasing fat
intake from vegetable oils and increasing
consumption of omega-3 rich foods such
as oily fish.
Muscle loss and regeneration
Immobility results in muscle loss due to
decreased muscle protein synthesis. So,
nutritional interventions should focus
on easing the decrease in muscle protein
creation, and increased protein intake is
often the first measure considered. It is
well accepted that protein or essential
amino acid (EAA) intake increases muscle
protein synthesis following exercise,
but it might not have the same impact
during inactivity. Studies have shown that
immobile muscle seems to be resistant
to the stimulus of EAAs – this is known as
anabolic resistance. However, it has been
suggested that nutrition interventions
such as increased intake of a particular
amino acid, called leucine, and omega-3
fats may help decrease this resistance.
Studies are needed to examine this before
any firm recommendations can be made.
As rehabilitation begins and progresses,
muscles will begin to grow
(hypertrophy) through protein
synthesis. This process requires
increased amino acid availability
that can be met by increased protein
intake. How much is still the big
question, but as long as it fits in with
adequate carbohydrate and essential fat
intake, high protein intake should not be
a problem. As well as considering the total
amount of protein, the timing of intake in
relation to exercise and the type of protein
ingested is important (check out SN Forum,
Issue 4).
Energy (calorie) intake
An important consideration during injury
is calorie intake. Often the first impulse of
injured athletes is that they need to drastically
reduce their calorie intake because they
can’t train. It is likely that a reduction of total
intake will be necessary to prevent unwanted
weight gain, but it may not be as extreme
as some athletes think. Firstly, during the
healing process, energy expenditure can be
increased by as much as 20%, particularly
in the early stage and if the injury is severe.
Something else to consider is the energy
cost of moving around. If crutches are used
to get about, their use can increase energy
expenditure two to three times than that
used up in regular walking. Finally, care
should be taken not to over-restrict calorie
intake as this can also affect muscle
protein synthesis. So, a small amount of
weight gain may be preferable to a lack of
energy to support proper healing during
immobilisation.
During the rehabilitation phase of recovery,
muscle growth needs a lot of energy, so
energy expenditure will increase and this
needs to be matched with increased calorie
intake. Compromising on adequate high
quality calories at this time will slow up the
regeneration process and, ultimately, the
time to full recovery.
Other nutrients to consider
Whereas calories, protein and essential fat
are often the focus of nutrition recovery
from injury, other nutrients have a role to
play as well. Adequate vitamin and mineral
intake – especially zinc and vitamin C – is
necessary for wound healing and collagen
synthesis. Sufficient intakes of calcium and
vitamin D are necessary for optimal bone
healing. Antioxidant nutrients help to
control oxidative stress. A word of caution
though: supplementation with any of these
nutrients above what should be obtained
in a well-planned, varied diet is not advised;
indeed, supplementation with individual
nutrients where not necessary may upset
the balance of absorption and metabolism
of other nutrients. Finally, there is evidence
that excessive alcohol can impair muscle
protein synthesis and delay healing. So,
whereas the odd glass of wine will do no
harm, don’t drown your sorrows because
of your injury!
Immobilisation Phase
Rehabilitation Phase
Adequate calories
Increased calories
Adequate protein (amount? + leucine)
Increased protein
Sufficient vitamins and minerals
Sufficient vitamins and minerals
Limit alcohol intake
Limit alcohol intake
Include omega-3 rich foods
Include omega-3 rich foods
Plenty of fruit and vegetables
Plenty of fruit and vegetables
Issue 6, June 2012
3
Neil Campbell Deirdre Ryan
“
Yes, of course. It is really good
for recovery – especially
with protein shakes after
training and, sometimes for
a little treat, mixed with hot
chocolate. For breakfast, I
would have muesli mixed
with a bit of yogurt and some
berries.
Advice for Aspiring Athletes?
Train hard, love what you do,
eat well and listen to your
coaches.
Sport: High jumper
Birth Place: Dublin
Sporting Influences: Sonia O’Sullivan, Kiser Berfus.
Greatest Sporting Achievements: Coming sixth in
the World Championships in South Korea last summer
(2011).
Training Schedule: I have nine sessions a week. I have
one day off on a Sunday, and on three days I double-up
with two sessions.
Profile
Name: Neil Campbell
Sport: Basketball (captain of the UL Eagles
Superleague Team)
Born: 18/12/1983
Birth Place: Doha, Qatar
Neil Campbell
Sporting Influences: Michael Jordan, Penny
Typical Diet:
My philosophy is: as long as I eat the good stuff first, I can eat whatever else.
Once I eat healthy I don’t really crave that much ‘junk’ food. During the season I
make sure I eat a lot of carbohydrate, protein, fruit and vegetables. At the end of
the week, after the game, I’ll allow myself to eat whatever I want for one day. My
favourite meal is steak, roast potatoes, mixed vegetables and a pint of milk.
Do You Drink Milk?
Greatest Sporting Achievements: Being captain of
the UL Eagles to the League and Cup Double in 2012.
team, as well as two physical training sessions a week,
Advice for Aspiring Athletes?
The greatest deciding factor I’ve seen in a person’s success in sport from a young
age is their attitude. Have ambition to succeed, make sure your coach can show
you how to succeed, work on what they want you to work on, work harder than
everyone else and don’t let anyone stop you!
“
Issue 6, June 2012
Hardaway, most legendary NBA players.
Training Schedule: I train three times a week with my
Everyday _ it goes great with a lot of the food I like to eat.
4
Name: Deirdre Ryan
Born: 01/06/1982
Do You Drink Milk?
Deirdre Ryan
Profile
Typical Diet:
I have a very varied diet –
a lot of vegetables, a lot of
fruit and dairy. I try to get as
much from every food group
as I can and I watch what I eat
most of the time.
“
Sports Star Spotlight Sports Star Spotlight
“
and at least two more individual basketball sessions a
week. Maybe a recovery session as well, depending on
how the weekend’s game went.
Case study:
Weight gain diet for a
17-year-old basketball player.
Dr Tom Hill, originally from Cork, is a registered nutritionist
and Senior Lecturer in Food and Human Nutrition at
University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK. He has worked
on diet and nutrition issues with players, athletes and
teams, both professional and amateur, across a range
of sports including rugby, soccer, GAA, rowing and
athletics. He has also published numerous research
Sample daily meal plan
8.30am: Breakfast
• 50g porridge oats with a medium
banana
• 1 boiled egg with 1 slice of wholegrain
toast and low-fat spread
articles and book chapters on human nutrition and
• 200ml glass of tropical fruit juice
one of his main research interests is the role of nutrition
11.00am: Light snack (at work)
in musculoskeletal health. He has also played rugby
for University College Cork and is currently involved in
coaching youth rugby. (Email: [email protected])
Case study:
Weight gain diet for 17-year-old basketball player.
Matt is a rising talent and is keen to prepare for next season’s U19 national school cup
competition at ‘A level’. Matt’s coach is very keen to see him gain some weight during the off
and pre-season, as he feels his weight will hold him back from gaining higher honours. Matt
recognises that he needs to gain weight and has admitted that he has tried numerous times
himself without much success. After hearing the nutritionist giving a general nutrition talk to
the squad after a training session, he is excited at the opportunity to see the nutritionist in
confidence about his strategy. Matt likes most foods but admits he struggles with preparing
and cooking food. He weighs 12½ stone and is 6ft 6 inches tall and, after an initial consultation
with the nutritionist, his body fat is 12%. While off school for the summer, he also does a little
part-time ‘light’ work in a shop consisting of between 15-20 hours per week, generally during
mornings.
Nutritionist recommendations
• Granola bar
• 200ml fruit smoothie
1.30pm: Lunch (at home)
• Homemade lasagne with 3 baby
potatoes, peas and sweetcorn
• Pint of diluted cordial
4.00pm: Snack
• Homemade mixed fruit salad (250g)
with a 125g fruit yogurt
5.30pm: Gym session
7.00pm: Post-training snack (in
dressing room)
Estimated average daily energy requirements based on weight, height and a moderate activity
level: 2,000 kcals/day.
• Pint of skimmed milk and a banana
General notes
8.00pm: Dinner
Matt is initially given some general, but very useful,
lifestyle and dietary advice and a range of printed
resources. There are four main components to his success in
gaining muscle mass. These are:
•
Undertaking a well-designed weight training
programme (with which he will get assistance from
his coaching team).
•
Eating a sensible diet rich in energy and food protein.
•
Ensuring adequate rest and recovery.
•
Preparation: Matt will need to invest some more
time in preparing and planning for his food intake.
He is given a number of resources by the nutritionist
and has been encouraged to be more experimental
with food.
Note on sports supplements: The use
of supplements such as creatine is becoming
increasingly popular among the younger athlete:
however, its use in this group of developing
athletes has not been widely studied. The
nutritionist highlights to Matt that he will gain
muscle mass by a dedicated, concerted approach
of a sensible diet and hard, honest training. He is
advised that using supplements such as creatine
at this point in his career is not needed. He is also
advised on protein supplements, and is advised
against using these at this point in time because
he has a decent appetite and can meet his protein
needs from food alone.
Issue 6, June 2012
• Chicken curry (1 medium chicken breast,
1 boil-in-the-bag basmati rice portion
and 200g mixed vegetables)
• Diluted cordial
• 2 biscuits/tea
10.00pm: Snack
• 125g low-fat, natural yogurt
5
Sport&Dairy
What
the
science
says
Milk potential benefits for
muscle performance
In Issue 4 of SN Forum, we reviewed two
studies carried out by Cockburn E et al (2008,
2010), which demonstrated that 1,000mL of
milk or a milk-based protein-carbohydrate
beverage consumed immediately following
exercise reduces exercise-induced muscle
damage. Such muscle damage is commonly
experienced by athletes after participating
in strenuous exercise and can negatively
affect muscle performance, thus limiting an
athlete’s ability to perform at their best.
With such findings from previous studies,
a recent study by Cockburn E et al (2012)
investigated if a volume of 500mL of milk
would result in a similar effect, as shown
with 1,000mL of milk.
Twenty-four male participants took part
in the present study and were assigned to
one of three groups: 500mL semi-skimmed
milk; 1,000mL semi-skimmed milk; or
1,000mL water. Participants completed
a warm-up of five minutes of cycling
followed by approximately 30 minutes
of knee inflections, designed to induce
muscle damage. Immediately after, subjects
consumed their allocated drink. Markers
of muscle damage such as delayed-onset
muscle soreness (pain and stiffness felt in
muscles several hours to days following
strenuous exercise), muscle performance,
myoglobin levels (a protein released into
6
Issue 6, June 2012
the bloodstream due to muscle damage)
and creatine kinase levels (an enzyme
which increases in blood serum as a result of
muscle damage) were assessed immediately
before, and 24, 48 and 72 hours after the
exercise bout.
Results showed that all groups had an
increase in muscle soreness which peaked
at 48 hours and began to return to baseline
levels by 72 hours. After 48 hours, 1,000
mL of milk was shown to limit increases
in creatine kinase in comparison to water.
After 72 hours, 1,000 mL of milk limited
a decrease in peak torque (a measure of
muscle performance) compared to water.
Furthermore, there were no differences
between consuming 500mL or 1,000 mL of
milk for changes in peak torque and creatine
kinase levels.
This study demonstrates that the
consumption of 500mL of milk immediately
following exercise can limit the decrease
in muscle performance and increase in
creatine kinase associated with exerciseinduced muscle damage. Consuming
a volume of 500mL of milk, rather than
1,000mL, may be easier for athletes to put
into practice following training sessions
and competitions.
Cockburn E et al. Effect of volume of milk consumed on the
attenuation of exercise-induced muscle damage. European
Journal of Applied Physiology. 2012; doi: 10.1007/s00421011-2288-2.
Milk potential benefits for
recovery
Adequate recovery following a training
session or a competitive game is essential
for elite athletes and recreational exercisers
alike. Activation of protein synthesis is an
important response in the recovery process
and is essential for muscle tissue repair.
A study has demonstrated the benefits
of consuming chocolate milk, following
endurance exercise, on subsequent exercise
performance and protein synthesis.
This study consisted of three individual trials.
Ten trained cyclists and triathletes (five men
and five women), aged 18 to 39 years, took
part in this study. For each trial, participants
reported to the laboratory in a fasted
state and initial measures such as resting
blood samples and resting heart rate were
recorded. Subjects cycled at a high intensity
for 1.5 hours, followed by alternating one
minute intervals at lower intensities for a
total of ten minutes, which was designed
to deplete glycogen stores (carbohydrates
are essential energy providers for sport and
are stored in the muscle as ‘glycogen’). The
procedure of each trial was similar, apart
from the beverage consumed during the
recovery period: i.e. each participant was
assigned to one of the test drinks at each of
the three individual trials.
On completion of the cycle, each participant
received one of three drinks immediately
after, and again two hours into their four-
hour recovery period. The drinks consumed
were either: low-fat chocolate milk; a
carbohydrate drink containing dextrose
and canola oil; or a placebo drink of water
with sweeteners and flavouring. Following
the four-hour recovery period, participants
then completed a 40-kilometer cycling time
trial and were instructed to cycle as fast as
possible, with the time to complete the trial
as the measure of performance. Specific
measures of interest included muscle
glycogen resynthesis, muscle damage and
inflammation indicators.
Results showed that subjects consuming the
chocolate milk had a faster trial time than
those consuming either the carbohydrate
or placebo drinks. It was found that muscle
glycogen resynthesis was higher in the
chocolate milk and the carbohydrate
drink consumers than in the placebo
group. Furthermore, the chocolate milk
drink showed a higher increase in protein
synthesis post-exercise compared to both
the carbohydrate and placebo drinks.
In conclusion, chocolate milk was found
to be more effective than a carbohydrate
or placebo drink in improving subsequent
performance, as well as being a greater
stimulus for protein synthesis. Consuming
chocolate milk post-exercise may be of
particular advantage to athletes, especially
if rapid recovery between training sessions
is necessary.
Ferguson-Stegall et al. Postexercise carbohydrateprotein supplementation improves subsequent exercise
performance and intracellular signaling for protein
synthesis. J Strength Cond Res. 2011; 25:1210-1024.
Issue 6, June 2012
Resources and events
Log on to www.milkit.ie to find out more about
nutrition for sports and avail of this interactive
resource.
Visit the Milk It Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/milkitndc for access to
exclusive content, videos and some fun facts on
sports nutrition and milk. For updates on the NDC, follow us on
Twitter @NDC_ie
The National Dairy Council has a collection of
booklets available to download from our website
www.ndc.ie/publications
For more information about upcoming Milk It For All
It’s Worth seminars and events, visit the NDC website,
www.ndc.ie or contact us on (01) 290 2451.
7
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